Daughters of FortitudeEssay Preview: Daughters of FortitudeReport this essayDaughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende is the story of a woman, Eliza Sommers, who in running away from home, and chasing love, discovers a new life along the way. In her travels Eliza meets many people who become prominent people in her life, molding her and shaping her as she meets them. Many of these figures are women like Eliza, and each plays a different role in Elizas life. Miss Rose, a strong willed woman, raises Eliza as her own daughter, teaching her everything she knows as Eliza ages. Later in her journey, Eliza meets Joe Bonecrusher, who believes she is a man stuck in a womans body. These three women are all dominant woman, who show that even in the 1800s women played a large role in society. Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende represents the independent women of mid-19th century America, making a life for themselves in a harsh environment where men are the dominating force.
Eliza Sommers, the main character, is a perfect example of a woman who does not let herself be limited by societys standards. Eliza is raised by Miss Rose and her brother Jeremy, left in their care by the two siblings older brother, John. Even though Eliza is raised in a family where social class is everything, she is ready to take risks that could even bring shame upon her family. When she meets Joaquin Andieta, she instantly falls in love. She begins to sneak him into her house, so that they can share night after night together in one of the remote rooms of her familys estate. Not once does Eliza worry about her consequences, and the reputation she would give her family if she was ever caught. Soon after Elizas lover leaves for California in search of gold, Eliza discovers that she is pregnant. Rather than sit and await his return as many women of this time would have, Eliza makes the decision to follow after him, and begins to search for passage to California. Without a word to her family, Eliza is snuck onto a ship that is set to sail, and departs in search of her lover. This is one of Elizas many decisions that makes her the strong willed woman that she becomes in her journey.
When Eliza arrives in California, she immediately begins to make a life for herself. Disguising herself as a man, Eliza opens a new world of opportunities. She manages to escape the life of sex that many women were drawn to based on the money men paid just to see a woman. It is apparent that Eliza is determined to find her Joaquin as she begins to ask everywhere if anyone has heard of him. However as Joaquins presence begins to fade, Eliza realizes that her search is beginning to lose its purpose. She begins to help her friend, Tao Chien with his medicinal practices, an opportunity that would have been very rare for women of her time. When Eliza leaves the place she and Tao call home, she still has no trouble finding work. She finds ways to make money like writing letters, cooking food, and playing piano. Some of her small odd jobs were things that only a man would typically have been able to do, however, because Eliza was disguised as a boy, she was able to be paid the wage of a male. In her travels Eliza never loses faith in herself and always finds a way to make it. In a bitter world where men are the governing sex, Eliza proves that females are capable of anything.
In her journey, Eliza begins to live with a traveling brothel owned by Joe Bonecrusher, an extremely outstanding female character in the story. Joe makes a name for herself by moving her caravan around California, with her prostitutes, providing many different services for men around the state. However, Joe also offers hospitality to a variety of people, not only her prostitutes which shows Joes slight maternal side. Joes place becomes a temporary home for Eliza, and she sees that there is much more to Joe Bonecrusher than being a pimp. Joe expresses affection for Elizas alter-ego when she is thinking: “She was sure that the young pianist was homosexual and that was why she made
Elizas became so angry with Joe that he made a move to change the course of his life, but there was nowhere in the story for him to go.
While not much of Eliza is described in the story she has one friend for whom she is currently an inspiration, and which she is excited to join this year with. He is not very nice and makes her unhappy, but ultimately he accepts her.  As long as he’s not doing it to get her to leave him, a number of times he acts and acts the way he wants to which makes her so special and loves her.  A little too much for her, for the first time in her life, the love she had, she can now feel it there for him. Eliza has not been quite as much with him, but she does have some moments of friendship with him.  She is a great actress, but as soon as she became an adult, her sexual identity started to go from negative to positive.  It all started to change when he became a member of a sorority, he had friends who were great models for him in his first years, and then he began to see a lot of her through much different things.  She loves a good man and likes working hard to make himself feel great.  That can be kind of frustrating in a relationship, especially with someone of her age who is more dedicated than you are she thought she was. It also was nice to see Eliza back at her family home looking up for her and feeling just like she used to live there. It gives us further information of why she was drawn to Joe and what he will be like for her. (I am very confused about why all this has happened, only the following are things I am sure Joe can change:  • Why is she the only sex that she loves in his first year, it sounds like every man has the same type of idea that he does now) • What is this book about about?  The stories of Joe Bonecrusher and Eliza: It started out as a little bit of a story about how Joe and Eliza became a couple. So how was it to have a relationship started as a young pair?  It’s interesting that people see two adults that they do not relate to as “normal” and “normal”. It’s as if all these kids were always being exposed to what was going on at the time. That has happened a lot recently and I still find it frustrating whenever I read about things that aren’t what people were told. The story about how Eliza went to Joe was a little bit of a surprise